Doomtown Gencon Prep
Starting with the aforementioned Desolation Row: this is the deck that I took to my local recent Sheriff's event. I used that starting posse for most games. Against Deedslide or Clowns Fred Aims went in with his infinite influence(note both of those decks should run The Evidence) and against decks that wanted to fight I switched out Allie or Makaio for Angelica. In retrospect I should probably start Angelica, Sanford, Travis, Jake and Makaio. Starting with two studs has been very very important. Modern shooter decks have incredibly odds to have the ability to debuff one of them so it's an important to have a backup before starting a shootout.
During the tournament it became evident that the peacemaker is a bit of a problem for this deck. I'm not currently sure what the best solution is outside of a second Legendary Holster. Sadly I will fail those pulls about 1/3rd of the time. I could also try to run peacemaker myself, but eh.
The first alternate is Desolation Row with Hucksters. The real needle to thread here is starting with and having enough Hucksters in the deck, while having at least 4 influence and two studs in play. I'm not sure it's currently possible while also having a grifter which makes me all sorts of nervous.
What I've enjoyed about this is having all the repeatable shootout actions that Hexes bring, as well as playing non-clown Hexes. The Rapier has been incredibly good for its interaction with the Desolation Row job too. Still I don't think it's stronger than just playing the regular version.
Next up is playing Law Dogs myself. This deck is my attempt at a version of what I played in the finals. The peacemaker was an incredible problem. It can also match Desolation Row in both shootout actions and cheating reactions. Sadly the economy is not nearly as good, which is obnoxious.
Compared to DR - Hucksters, which has a locked starting posse, this deck can morph too. Against more control oriented decks I can switch out for the Judge, Tommy, Burton and Smiley. This allows the deck to go on a hanging run as my first action.
Finally the most experimental: a Mogan Cattle Company deck. Much like Desolation Row, the MCC has excellent economy. From there it packs a similar action pack They also have easy access to Quaterman, who essentially has a super Peacekeeper built in. Sadly, while this feels like it has potential I haven't had a chance with it at all.
I could also play a fairly standard clown control, but eh. Any feedback or suggestions for any of the above would be highly appreciated!
Comments
It looks like you are stacked on 3,4,5 with a possible SF in clubs.
For my LD, Faster on the Draw, combined with bullet reductions (FotD, SIYE, etc.) and cheatin' cards (Coachwhips etc.) were the engines.
My mantra vs. DR - "If you cheat, I WILL wreck you." and with the bullet reductions, the idea is to force a 5 card top-deck - making cheatin' w/o discards to get legal tougher to hit.
Also, the grinders will permit deck changes between rounds and a change from grinders to the semis (where decks lock and indeed will be collected by the TO before the finals) - so it'll be interesting to see if the meta changes over the grinders and semis.
Most shooters these days are playing a fairly heavy package of bullet reduction actions. It's why having a backup stud is so important and it's also why the peacemaker is very strong right now.
I fully expect DR to do far better in the qualifying rounds than the semis.
Very often i see people break a standard 3x16 mold from some off cards.
Players often pay the price for this later is shootouts.
Right of the bat, i would suggest you try a 4x12 build.
Once in awhile you will miss the solid structure of 3x16, but you cheat a lot less.
Don't discount your statements about trying to avoid cheating as much as possible.
Given how much you want to avoid cheating shouldn't your deck structure help?
Even during low ball you will see benefits with hands that should let you win.
Redesigning these decks into 4x12 will be easy because you already have an off value.
Suits can be filled in unevenly as well, letting you maximize power cards.